Winning memories fuel Seahawks rookie

GREG JOHN, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By GREG JOHNS, P-I REPORTER

Updated 10:00 pm, Wednesday, October 15, 2008

John Carlson trains Wednesday in Renton. He brings a strong focus on winning to the Seahawks. "I think he has a chance to be a special player," coach Mike Holmgren.
Photo: Andy Rogers/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Sure, his Notre Dame football team finished a cruel 3-9 when he was a senior captain of the Fighting Irish last year. And now the Seahawks are a disappointing 1-4 in his rookie season as the starting tight end.

But if you think there's some dark cloud hanging over the big kid, look no further for disproof than the picture hanging on the wall of his dad's basketball office back at Litchfield High in Minnesota. The one showing John Sr. hugging young John and older brother Alex at midcourt of Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota after the three Carlsons combined to lead Litchfield to victory in the basketball state championship game in 2000.

Yeah, John Carlson knows what winning feels like. With his dad as coach, Litchfield won three state hoop titles in his four seasons of high school, compiling a 114-8 record with John as the bruiser down in the post.

Not many athletes in this world get to live Carlson's Disney moment of leaping into the arms of his coaching dad and point-guard brother to cap off a 30-0 season in a state championship when he was just a freshman.

The sweet smell of success still drives Carlson. It tortures him that the Seahawks are struggling. It haunts him that Notre Dame lost the most games in its storied history his final year.

He wants one thing.

"As the son of a coach, John recognizes the pain and agony coaches feel after losses," said his dad, now in his 22nd year as the basketball coach at Litchfield. "He's always put winning ahead of everything."

Seahawks fans are just getting to know Carlson. What they've seen so far is a young man with good hands, an ability to get open and the intelligence to convince coach Mike Holmgren that he deserves to be an integral part of the offense.

What they probably don't know is this is a quiet, blue-collar kid from a family of four in Minnesota, the son of two high school teachers, with enough athletic talent to have played in the state doubles tennis tournament in high school and on the Notre Dame basketball team as a freshman.

He graduated as a history major from Notre Dame in four years with a 3.63 GPA and national Scholar-Athlete honors, as well as All-America credentials on the field.

Holmgren, who relishes having a quality tight end in his West Coast offense, clearly likes the young man the Seahawks traded up to land in the second round of April's draft. He calls Carlson "the real deal" and foresees good things down the road.

"I think he has a chance to be a special player," Holmgren said. "He's very bright, very serious about his profession. And he's talented. He's not perfect, he still does some young things, but he is coming right along. I'm very pleased."

With the Seahawks' injury woes at wide receiver, Holmgren has heaped a lot on Carlson's plate. He leads the team with 16 receptions for 190 yards and hurtled a pair of defenders at the goal line for his first NFL touchdown in Sunday's loss to Green Bay.

"We've kind of had to say, 'I'm sorry, you're going to get loaded up here,' " Holmgren said. "His role has changed for us early. He's a little more involved. ... But this experience will accelerate and help him down the road. There won't be many surprises for him here pretty soon."

Carlson, 24, didn't know what to expect this rookie season, but has the eager "bring it on" mentality one would expect from a coach's kid from small-town Minnesota.

"It's a compliment that they feel they can challenge me. And I am being challenged every day," he said. "This is a great opportunity. Obviously we all want to win games, so we're all working very hard, and I'm sure it's going to turn around."

If you want to know what kind of kid Carlson is, consider this. The 6-foot-5, 251-pounder was recruited for football by the likes of Notre Dame and Stanford as an athletic youngster with a 3.95 high school GPA, but nearly went to St. Cloud State in Minnesota because of family ties.

His dad played basketball at St. Cloud; his mom competed there in basketball and track. His older brother, Alex, was playing there and the chance to reunite tugged hard at the heartstrings.

"To be completely honest, St. Cloud was probably my second choice of schools after Notre Dame," he said. "I would have played basketball and football there. My godfather is head basketball coach there. My brother was playing basketball there at the time. In hindsight, I think I made the right choice. I would have only had one year playing basketball with Alex, and it would have meant a lot to me, but I was very happy with my experience at Notre Dame."

Indeed, Carlson has parlayed his Irish football experience into a budding NFL career and a four-year, $4.5 million contract. But if you want Carlson to light up, ask him about his hoop days at Notre Dame.

ham's having introduced him to the powerful kid out of Minnesota during recruiting.

Asked to help out, Carlson did what any son of a basketball coach would do. He flew back early from Christmas break to join the Irish and soon found himself on the free-throw line in mop-up time against St. John's at Madison Square Garden.

Back home, his family and friends were watching the nationally televised game in eager anticipation.

"Notre Dame was way ahead," John Sr. remembered, "and with about two minutes to go, just about the time we figured John would get in, they said, 'Well, this one's over. Let's head out to the West Coast to Pauley Pavilion. ...' "

So it was that the Carlson family was scrambling to pick up the rest of the Big East game on computer when John stepped to the line and sank two free throws, the only points of his college career.

"I think I got one defensive rebound as well," Carlson recalled with a grin. "It was a blast to compete against athletes of that caliber on the basketball court. At that time, as a redshirt in the Notre Dame football program, I was below the bottom of the totem pole. So that meant a lot to me, being part of a smaller, close-knit group. It gave me a little more confidence."

When Charlie Weis replaced Willingham, he insisted Carlson give up his two-sport ambitions. That was fine with Carlson, who had been recruited to play basketball by Wisconsin-Green Bay and Rice, but knew his future rested in football.

"He was the old-fashioned banger," his dad said. "He'd go in there and rebound and set screens. He wasn't a great jump shooter, but he did have an unstoppable left-handed jump hook, which is pretty good since he's right-handed. I think that helped him a lot in football. He's always had good hands."

Carlson credits his dad for passing along his endless work ethic and brother Alex for setting the tone for his entire athletic life. Alex, three years older, was the 6-2 point guard and quarterback. John played the 6-5 center and tight end.

Together they were the perfect combination, which paid off in the 30-0 basketball season his brother's senior year that is still captured on their dad's wall.

"That was a special moment for all three of us," Carlson said. "Not just because we went undefeated and won a championship, but because of all the work that went into that. My brother and Dad and I went to basketball camps and tournaments starting back in second grade. We'd been through so much together, and that was kind of the culmination."

Carlson said he still gets a chill down his back talking about those days. It's the fun part of sports, the memory of what it feels like to be on top of the world. The part that keeps him going even now that he's in the harsh business of pro football on a team struggling to turn things around.

"His goal is to help that team win," John Sr. said. "That's the only goal he's got."